Board game captures real life of the homeless

A new board game introduced in northern Michigan captures the real lives of the homeless.

Home Sweet Homelessness: The Housing Reality Game That Will Open Your Eyes took months and hundreds of players to refine -- including input from homeless people in the Traverse City area.

The game starts with the premise of renting an apartment and doing the right things to get into a home. Players progress or regress to different squares, depending on "challenges" such as a baby-sitter not showing up and "opportunities."

Lynn Cifka, who helped design the game while homeless during the summer of 2010, said the game changed her life.

She tells the Traverse City Record-Eagle becoming homeless was an "earth-shattering" experience and the game "game forces you to look at your life."